1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of enriching cultured dairy products with high levels of dietary fiber. The invention further relates to a method of fiber enriching fruit products that can be used to make Swiss style and Sundae style fruited yogurts.
2. Background of the Invention
In recent years, many medical studies have been presented showing the benefits of fiber in the human diet. Public awareness of health benefits of fiber in the diet has also increased in recent years. With more and more people aware of fiber and its benefits, more and more people are searching for products containing fiber.
Dietary fiber is the portion of plants which is not broken down by chemical action in the digestive system. This "indigestible" fiber often was called roughage a few generations ago. The fibrous parts of meat are not considered dietary fiber. Some of the sources of dietary fiber are cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, gum, and pecton. Pectin is known to home canners as the substance that helps turn some fruit juices into jelly. Natural gums contain high amounts of dietary fiber. Different plants have different kinds of fiber. Bran is almost entirely cellulose; apples, grapes, and some other fruits are high in pectin. The amount of fiber varies from one kind of plant to another and may vary within a species or variety depending on growing conditions and maturity of the plant at the time of harvest.
Soy fiber has been consumed as a portion of soy flour, soy grits and other soybean derived food products, especially in Chinese, Indonesian and Japanese foods, including "tempeh", "miso" and "thuanao". Vegetable fiber may comprise up to about 4.5% by weight of "thua-nao" made from whole soybeans. (In the following discussion all percentages are by weight unless otherwise noted.)
Traditionally, wheat bran has been included in dry breakfast cereals for many years, and a uniform, relatively low level of food fiber has been present in rye breads, cracked and whole wheat breads, and other specialty breads. However, other parts of the average diet comprise highly processed foods, so the alternative choices to the above goods have become increasingly more dense, with less fiber than is now considered necessary for good gastrointestinal function. To make up for the asserted deficiency in dietary fiber, larger amounts of dietary fiber have been introduced into such products as high fiber cereals, baked goods including bread, pancakes, cookies, pasta and snack foods.
Recently, oat bran has been reported to be an especially desirable source of dietary fiber and it is now being incorporated into a seemingly endless variety of foods.
Dairy products and the dairy industry have been slow to respond to consumers' interest and demand for fiber enriched products and are a class of foods that has not generally been fiber fortified.
Dairy products have recently come under fire from researchers showing the detrimental effects of saturated fat and cholesterol in the body. These same researchers positive effects of fiber in the diet. Studies have shown that dietary fiber reduces the risk of coronary heart disease and some forms of cancer.
One dairy product that stands out as suitable carrier for fiber is yogurt. Low fat yogurt has the health benefits of high protein, high calcium, low fat, low calories and active cultures. Fiber enrichment of yogurt fits in well with its other benefits. The most popular benefit fiber is its link to the reduction of the levels of cholesterol in blood.
Yogurt is, conventionally, a cultured milk product produced by fermenting dairy ingredients, such as milk, skim milk, partially skim milk, cream, nonfat milk solids, used alone or in combination with lactic acid producing cultures. Depending upon the dairy ingredients employed, other ingredients and the processing treatment, yogurt may be prepared in various forms. Frozen yogurt, at one extreme, is generally consumed in hard frozen or soft serve form. Liquid yogurt, at the other extreme, is consumed by drinking as contrasted with by use of a spoon. The most common or so-called conventional form of yogurt is firm bodied, smooth and viscous, generally having the consistency of a light gel which is pudding or custard-like and spoonable. What has now become known as European style yogurt is a thin-bodied version of conventional yogurt, but not as thin as liquid yogurt, and not drinkable.
Fruit-flavored yogurts are made Sundae style with fruit product on the bottom, Swiss style with fruit product pre-mixed, or Western style with the fruit product on the bottom and the yogurt colored and/or flavored with additional flavoring agents such as natural and artificial liquid flavorings. Fruited yogurts are traditionally made with standard fruit products referred to as yogurt fruit, yogurt fruit products or simply fruit product. Fruit products generally are made by cooking a fruit and sugar mixture. If the cooked product has discernible pieces of fruit in it, the fruit product is said to be a fruit product containing fruit piece identity. If to be fruit in the cooked product is finely divided, the fruit product is said to be in puree form.
The milk base for yogurt, depending on taste, display varying butterfat contents and yogurts may be prepared with fat contents in a range from 0.1-3.5 percent by weight. According to FDA labeling standards, yogurt may be labeled as "nonfat" if it contains less than 0.5% milkfat; as "low fat" it if contains from not less than 0.5% to no more than 2% milkrat; and as full fat or regular yogurt if contains at least 3.25% milkfat. Most commercially available yogurts are "low fat" by FDA labeling standards.
Yogurt is generally made by a method that includes
(1) heat treating yogurt base mix comprising milk and sweetener at a predetermined upper temperature range in order to pasteurize the mix;
(2) cooling the yogurt mix to a predetermined lower temperature range;
(3) adding and blending yogurt starter cultures with the yogurt mix while maintaining the lower temperature range;
(4) incubating the cultured yogurt mix at the lower temperature range until a thickened yogurt product is produced; and
(5) cooling the yogurt product.
Sundae style fruited yogurt is generally made in a serving size cup by filling cultured yogurt mix over or under a suitable amount of fruit product and incubating the filled cup for a suitable time. Swiss style fruited yogurt is generally made by mixing a suitable amount of fruit product with yogurt product (i.e., after completion of the incubation step). Fruited yogurts usually contain from about 10% to 30% fruit product by weight based on the weight of the fruited yogurt.